Feb. 23, 2009

Courtesy of Vanderbilt

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Commodore bowling team battled to the final-four round of the Indiana University Classic Sunday before falling to top-seeded Central Florida.

Vanderbilt earned the No. 3 seed in this national tournament and advanced from the round of eight Baker games with a victory over Lindenwood.

Central Florida had been the hot team all weekend, submitting many of the top team-game scores. In a bracketing rarity, the No. 1 team was paired in the semi-finals with the No. 3 team, instead of a more normal No. 1 versus No. 4 pairing.

Central Florida rolled a 253 in the first Baker game to easily top Vanderbilt, but the remaining matches grew tighter. The Commodores lost the second game in the best of five contest by a 182-174 margin before rebounding with a 176-173 victory.

The fourth deciding game went down to the 10th frame with Central Florida winning 177-176. Central Florida then played Pikeville in the championship match.

Since Vanderbilt is an NCAA team, the statistics from this weekends games won't factor into the official statistics.